Seniors rule

Getting players to stay is a must to win the Big Dance

Looking Ahead

Storylines

Dunks and Air Balls

They Said It

By Mark Button, CNNSI.com

The formula is becoming increasingly obvious.

During the next several weeks, a slew of underclassmen will dust their teammates, coaches and fans to enter the June 26 NBA Draft. And while we're not here to judge anyone for realizing their dreams -- and becoming multi-millionaires along the way -- the 2001-02 Maryland Terrapins sent a clear message to each and every player talented enough to cradle dreams of not only playing the league, but of winning a college national championship as well.

The Terps' message? Say it with me: Stay in school.

Maryland won the national title because of its seniors. There's just no getting around it. Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton carried the Terrapins to the title and will all have a chance to play in the NBA. They'll all become rich. But they also made a promise to each other to stay in College Park until their dreams of a championship materialized.

"None of us have ever been tempted to go out early," Mouton said a couple days before Maryland defeated Indiana, another season-laden team, 64-52 in the national title game. "Everybody has stuck together and everybody's got one goal, and that's to win a national championship."

Last year, Duke fed off the contagious fire and unequaled experience of the consummate upperclassman, Shane Battier. A year before that, seniors Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson guided Michigan State to a title.

In the coming days, players such as Memphis freshman Dajuan Wagner, sophomores Jared Jeffries (Indiana), Marcus Taylor (Michigan State) and Caron Butler (Connecticut), along with others -- including Kansas All American Drew Gooden -- will decide between staying in school or turning pro.

In Gooden's case specifically, the choice is particularly difficult. Of all the underclassmen listed, the smooth power forward would likely have the best chance at winning a college title should he return for his senior year. Gooden, along with guard Kirk Hinrich and forward Nick Collison, would unquestionably make for the most talented senior class in the country.

Maryland provided the blueprint. The Terrapins of 2000-01, like Kansas of this year, advanced to the Final Four with a loaded junior class. They all came back ... and you know the rest.

There are 55 players in the NBA who could have been playing college basketball this season. They averaged 7.5 minutes and 4.4 points a game as professionals and made an average of $1.8 million.

It's not an easy decision.

Maryland, Duke and Michigan State uncovered the safest route to the national championship. Now we'll see who takes it.

We're only about six months and change away from teams being able to officially practice together for the 2002-03 season. Because it's never too early to look ahead, we present the top 10 teams for next season. Keep in mind we rank the teams not truly knowing who will turn pro and who will return.

1. Kansas: Drew Gooden wears jersey number zero because he likes to be unpredictable. Don't be surprised if he shocks us all and returns for his senior year. If he does, pencil the Jayhawks in for a return trip to the Final Four. With a senior class of Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich and Gooden, complimented by sophomores Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and Wayne Simien, Kansas would have to be a national championship favorite. Even if Gooden does bolt, Kansas is still a top 10 team with a solid chance to return to the Final Four.

2. Arizona: Look for Jason Gardner to return -- again -- and lead the Wildcats to a Pac-10 title and a run to New Orleans. Luke Walton will be a senior and, if he continues to improve during the summer at the rate which he did during the year, he'll be a first-team All American. This year's incredible freshman class -- Will Bynum, Salim Stoudamire, Channing Frye, et al -- will be a year older and that much more confident (not that they lacked any confidence this year).

3. Oklahoma: The Sooners lose Aaron McGhee and his 16.4 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. They also lose sixth man Daryan Selvy (6.6 ppg., 4.4 rpg.). But Oklahoma will still be loaded with Hollis Price, Ebi Ere, Jason Detrick and Quannas White all returning. Each of those returnees scored in double figures, save White, who averaged nearly five assists a game. Ere, White and Detrick -- all juco transfers last year -- will benefit from another year playing together. McGhee is a load to lose inside, but watch Jabari Brown (6-foot-10, 210 pounds) emerge as a defensive force.

4. Duke: The Blue Devils reload with a what should be a disgustingly fantastic recruiting class. All-American Mike Dunleavy, Dahntay Jones and Chris Duhon will be joined by six freshman, four of which are ranked among the top 20 in the nation. Shelden Williams (6-foot-9, 245 pounds), Shavlik Randolph (6-10, 210) and J.J. Redick (6-4, 190) should make immediate impacts as Duke makes its annual bid for a national championship.

5. Alabama: All of the Crimson Tide's horses return, assuming Rod Grizzard plays it smart. Alabama's senior class will include the always flammable Grizzard, SEC player of the year Erwin Dudley, Kenny Walker and Terrance Meade. Point guard Maurice Williams will just be a sophomore. The Tide will have plenty of talent. The question remains, what will they do with it?

6. Pittsburgh: One of the nation's top defensive teams last year should be even better next year. All the Panthers lose is senior guard Chad Johnson, who scored all of 4.2 points a game. Point guard Brandin Knight, the team's heart and soul, will be one of the nation's true senior leaders and he'll get plenty of help from Julius Page (11.7 ppg.). Pittsburgh flew under the radar for the first half of 2001-02, but it won't be so easy to ignore the Panthers next year.

7. Connecticut: Okay, Caron Butler is likely headed for the NBA. After blowing up in the NCAA tournament (26.5 points a game, including 34 against N.C. State and 32 vs. Maryland), no one could fault Butler for taking his NBA-ready game to the next level. The Huskies will have plenty, though, with Emeka Okafor (4.23 blocks a game this year), Taliek Brown (9.2 ppg., 5.2 apg.), Ben Gordon (13.2 ppg.) and Tony Robertson (11.0 ppg.).

8. Texas: The Big 12 will be loaded once again, but it won't be Missouri who will have to try and live up to high preseason expectations next year. Only one of the Longhorns' top nine players from 2001-02 was a senior (two if you count Chris Owens, who was injured and missed the final 24 games). Freshman point guard T.J. Ford, who led the nation in assists wire to wire, promises to return to Austin with a more accurate jump shot, and the Longhorns will add depth up front with top-20 recruit Brad Buckman (6-8, 210 pounds).

9. Cincinnati: Steve Logan is gone, but Bob Huggins is not. Neither is Leonard Stokes, who proved he is ready to be the next Bearcats star when he went for 39 points and 10 rebounds in Cincinnati's season-ending, double-overtime loss (102-98) to UCLA in the second round of the tournament. Donald Little will provide the inside strength to compliment Stokes on the perimeter. After turning down his alma mater West Virginia, Huggins should see immediate rewards, not totally unlike what happened when Roy Williams passed on the job at his alma mater, North Carolina.

10. Georgia: Everyone who averaged at least 1.6 points a game returns for Georgia, most notably Ezra Williams (16.9 ppg., 5.5 rpg.) and Jarvis Hayes (16.8 ppg., 5.2 rpg.). Hayes was a transfer from Western Carolina just a year ago, so the more Hayes and Williams play together ... well, watch out. Expect more production from Chris Daniels (11.4 ppg., 8.1 rpg.) and Steve Thomas (8.7 ppg., 6.3 rpg.).

The best man for the job? Nolan Richardson's racial accusations put the University of Arkansas in an almost impossible situation. Richardson believes white reporters and white fans criticized his Arkansas program, which has been down during the past few years, because Richardson is black. Members of the university selection committee said the school's new hire, Stan Heath, was not made on the basis that Heath, too, is black. Of course they said that. But the truth is if Arkansas would have courted and hired, say, Gonzaga's Mark Few or another white coach, Richardson would have been able to say, "See, I knew it." No one likes to bring up the race card. But Richardson not only played the card, he laid down, in his mind, a full house. That left Arkansas in a tight spot. There is no doubt that Heath did a fantastic job in his first year at Kent State -- Heath's first year as a head coach. Heath is not without his accolades outside of last season -- he was an assistant to Tom Izzo on the Spartans' 2000 national championship team, for example. Here's hoping Heath proves to be the best man for the job, but for now, it's naive to think Heath's race didn't play a major role in his hiring. And that's probably the most disappointing part of the entire story.

No quick fixes for North Carolina Help is on the way, but will it be enough? Patience is not a virtue often practiced by the faithful of a program as storied as North Carolina's. The Tar Heels are coming off their worst season in school history. They finished 8-20 overall and 4-12 (last place) in the ACC. UNC missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 27 years, failed to win 20 games for the first time in 31 years and dropped out of the ACC's top three in the standings for the first time in 37 years. Gone are four-year starters Jason Capel and Kris Lang. Some may say that is a good thing. But while Matt Doherty is bringing in three of the nation's top 12 recruits -- including Raymond Felton, the top point guard in the nation -- it probably won't be enough to erase the 2001-02 seaason or put the Tar Heels back near the top of the conference. The good news is Doherty's job has never been in jeopardy and he has still been able to recruit top-flight talent. It's going to take more than a year to turn things back around in Chapel Hill. Next year will be a struggle again, but the team will improve. Don't be surprised if the Tar Heels win 15 games next year and are back in the hunt for a conference championship in 2003-04 -- assuming Doherty can put together one more stellar recruiting class.

DUNK: Big 12 Conference A 13-6 record in the tournament, including four Sweet 16 teams, three in the Elite Eight and Kansas and Oklahoma in the Final Four. With Bob Knight's resurgence and Quin Synder's emergence, college basketball's glamour conference makes its home in the Midwest.

AIR BALL: SEC While the SEC was clearly one of the most competitive conferences in the nation, it turned out that the conference was stocked with tons of good teams, but no great ones. The six SEC tournament teams went a combined 5-6.

DUNK: Mid-major conferences Great showing in the tournament for Kent State (MAC), Southern Illinois (MVC), Creighton (MVC) and UNC-Wilmington (Colonial). The gap between the elite conferences and the mid-majors is closing.

AIR BALL: A Season on the Brink For as many times as we had to endure the annoying ads for the ESPN original movie, you'd think it would at least be a decent flick. Instead, it was an embarrassment. Strange how all the game footage -- home and road IU games -- looked to be filmed in the same gym.

DUNK: Mike Davis How can anyone not like this guy? Probably the most honest Div. I coach, Davis will tell you exactly what he's thinking -- sometimes to a fault. Not a day goes by when someone asks him about former IU coach Bob Knight, even though Davis won more NCAA tournament games this year (five) than Knight did in his final seven at IU.

AIR BALL: West Coast Conference Gonzaga shocked us the only way it could this year -- by losing the first round of the tournament. Pepperdine was also a trendy pick for a couple wins in the tourney, but lost on the first day as well. Let's try to remember this when we're itching for an upset pick next February.

"I didn't watch the game. In fact, I walked outside and walked around campus. It's a pretty campus. But it was a little chilly outside." -- LSU head coach John Brady on how he spent his time after being ejected from the Tigers' 102-70 whipping from Florida on Jann. 16.

"Basically, every time we shot, we were like 'Let's go and get on back on defense because we know it's going in.' I was literally laughing at the end of the game." -- Indiana's Dane Fife on the Hoosiers' amazing 17 3-pointers in their 88-57 dismantling of Illinois on Jan. 26. Fife hit 6-off-7 from behind the arc and scored 20 points.

"I'm a coach who's a big believer in execution. And when I watch him shoot free throws, I want to execute him." -- Rick Pitino on Louisville forward Joseph N'Sima who was 11-for-26 from the free-throw line through late January.

"Talent level? Actually, I have to say I think we have more talent. We have more depth. It's just a matter of experience for us." -- North Carolina senior center Kris Lang on the difference in talent between North Carolina and Duke after the Blue Devils bllew out the Tar Heels 87-58 on Jan. 31.

"I'm going to ask for a raise." -- Davis after his Hoosiers defeated Duke in the Sweet 16.

"There's no way he's coming back next year." -- Indiana's Mike Davis on sophomore Jared Jeffries a day before the national championship.

 

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